New multi-million pound home for endoscopy officially opened

York Hospital’s new £10million endoscopy and GI physiology unit, one of the most modern and largest endoscopy units in England, was officially opened today (23 October 2019).

The unit, which has taken just eighteen months to complete, will significantly increase capacity to reflect the growing need for endoscopic investigations nationally and is expected to provide around 15,000 treatments each year.

The new unit is a two-storey building, incorporating seven endoscopy procedure rooms on the first floor, one equipped with radiology facilities.  The unit’s upper floor accommodates two sizeable plant rooms - one for air-handling units to serve the treatment and recovery spaces below, and an adjacent ‘wet’ plant room.  It also houses staff changing facilities, meeting rooms, and a seminar room with direct audio-visual links to the endoscopy rooms, to allow live steaming for training purposes.

The clinic will be led by a team of consultants and supported by highly trained healthcare professionals.  Mr Srinivas Chintapatla, Consultant Surgeon and Care Group Director, who has been instrumental in the design, development and build of the new unit, explained more:  “The new unit, one of the most modern and largest endoscopy units in the country, is an exciting development for the Trust.

“We used to do endoscopy in three rooms, so moving to a seven room unit will deliver significant improvements to diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy waiting times and increase the range of procedures offered.

“In the new unit we will be using advanced technology, like endoscopy simulators, and we will be introducing new procedures like transnasal endoscopy, which means that patients having a gastroscopy will be more comfortable.

“The unit will allow us to teach and support the next generation of nurse endoscopists to develop their skills and we will also be in a position to hold courses to teach endoscopy which will raise the profile of the unit nationally.”

The facility was officially opened by Michael Proctor, former chief executive of the Trust, who was integral to the new build from its conception.  Mike said: “I’m delighted to return to the Trust to officially open the new endoscopy and GI physiology unit.

“It’s truly fantastic to see a unit that is 100 per cent designed around patients’ needs and complements their flow through the department.  It’s bright and spacious, offering patients the best possible environment.  I’d like to congratulate everyone involved.”

The new flagship unit, built above the hospital’s existing physiotherapy department, has been designed to increase capacity to meet growing demand, improve the efficiency of patient flow and enhance the patient experience.  The new unit will deliver improvements to diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy waiting times and increase the range of procedures offered, meaning fewer patients will have to travel to Leeds or Hull.

Simon Morritt, Chief Executive, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust added:  “This is one of the biggest capital investments for many years and will allow the Trust to provide clinical services to a growing number of patients needing an endoscopy.

“This is an exciting development for the Trust and it will transform our service into a centre of excellence for endoscopy, providing an enhanced high quality care to our patients.”

The unit is part of the Trust’s continued investment in its hospitals.  Earlier this month the Trust submitted plans for a new flagship Vascular Imaging Unit for York Hospital to provide enhanced diagnosis and care.

23 October 2019